Corduroy

Had my birthday dinner here and it was fantastic. All three of us ordered the tasting menu and the selections were paired well. The waiter was nice and a did great job explaining in detail each dish which made it even tastier. Order the antelope!

I came here for my birthday with a group of friends, and we all sampled the Chef's Surprise Tasting Menu - which happened to be 6 courses instead of 5, along with wine pairing. They were one of the few restaurants that I called which could accommodate a vegetarian in my group, so I was quite happy with that!

I'm not a big wine drinker, but loved all the wines that were selected for us! Additionally, all the dishes served were really made with thought not only to taste, but also texture and presentation!

The ambiance was also really nice - not overly stuffy as I was originally worried about, but more warm and cozy with a touch of elegance.

One word -- AMAZING. From start to finish the service, the drinks and most importantly, the food, were all superb! The bf took me here for my birthday and I was VERY excited to do the chef's tasting menu. Mark, our server, was simply delightful! I love people who take pride in their work, and Mark is definitely one of those people. He provided some background about each dish that came out and he just a pleasure to chat with. Here's what we had:

To start (not counted as a Course): Chilled Pea Soup
Course 1: Pan Seared Scallops on top of Antebellum Grits
Course 2: Alaskan Wild Salmon
Course 3: Guinea Hen with Cabbage
Course 4: Antelope with Chestnut Puree
Course 5: Flourless Chocolate Cake and Pistachio Bread Pudding

Everything was simply delicious! My favorite course was the Scallops, but my bf's fave was the Antelope.

After drinks and dinner it's a costly night, but well worth it -- especially if you are celebrating a special occasion.

The food here is delicious
We went for my birthday which is on Easter weekend so the location is superb for Washingtonians- its not near all the tourists so you can drive and park without hassle, its right next to the Convention Center so you can metro.

The food was delicious - I had the crab custard, it wasn't sweet (which is good) it was different from any crab dish I've had before - like a crab soup with a custard textured top.

The tuna was a little too rare for me but still very good.
The pineapple sorbet. Yumm

The food was all well done. The service however is absolutely outstanding. They give you the option of sitting at the bar OR sitting at the table even if your entire party isn't there. You can tell that the servers really like the food and their job. Just listening to our waitress describe the food made my mouth water.

My parents took me here for my birthday. It was a Saturday night and the place was completely dead.

I don't know what happened, but the new location had really changed the experience. It isn't in a hotel anymore, but the ambiance is more like a mortuary with the servers (in suits) look like pall bearers waiting to take you away.

The food was okay - nothing out of this world. It was mostly creative. I had the peeky toe crab soup to start. Mom had the Wagu beef special and dad had the lobster carpacio. The lobster was by far the best. I'm still trying to figure out what is so great about the wagu beef - I'm not a fan.

My entree was the tuna steak - pretty good, but I've had better. For dessert we had the chocolate zabiyone.

Overall, it was a happy birthday because I had good company, but I won't be going back to Corduroy.

Maaan, I really wanted to like this one. I went for my birthday, and if the service hadn't been terrible this would have been a five star. We arrived on time for our rez, and were seated at the upstairs bar because our table needed "one moment." At corduroy, "one moment" means forty-five minutes. Not once during the wait were we offered a drink. Not only that, the bar table we were sitting at was not bussed from the previous patrons. We ended up bussing it ourselves. Not Good.

So we are eventually seated, but needed to wait 10-15 mins to look at a menu. I guess the hostess ran out. Strange. The drinks we ordered upstairs took about 15 minutes to make their way down from the bar. Odd. After we finished our main course, it took them 30 MINUTES to remove the dirty plate from in front of us. Throughout the meal we were really just like helpless babies who needed changing.

The food, however, was outstanding. I had tuna tartar to start. It was simply seasoned, but the quail egg on top added a definite twist. For the second course I had lamb loin. It was really quite excellent. Tender, juicy, and the sauce was fabulous. I wish the service was better :(

My husband took me here for a surprise birthday dinner. I'll admit that it was a surprise- I was expecting to go to one of the new trendy places up in Shaw, but instead he picked Corduroy- which has been around for a while, but has a below-the-radar presence.

The location outside is under construction, but inside it is a quiet, subdued place. The tables are far enough apart that you can have a conversation without raising your voice. One weird feature- the bathroom was on the second floor while the dining room was on the first. It was a bit awkward walking upstairs to an empty bar.

We didn't follow the menu exactly- instead opting for a few different first courses and then a main and dessert. We both got soups- I got the corn and my husband got the Thai chili tomato. The corn soup was delicious and my husband enjoyed his as well. We also ordered the tomato salad which was super simple but also delicious. The smoked salmon tartine was also good from what I remember. For our mains, I believe we got the chicken and the ahi tuna. They were good but nothing memorable. For dessert I believe we had a fresh peach tart which was fine.

We didn't let them know it was my birthday but we did see a lot of people celebrating at other tables. This is a great spot for special occasion dinners.

I have meant to try this place for a while. Finally I got a chance on my birthday dinner.
When I entered the restaurant, I loved the decorations and ambience.
We got to see the kitchen from our table but it was not noisy.

We took chief tasting menu.
The first one was eggplant chilled soup. It was bland but nice starting. The next one was tomato and tune tarter. I love the seasoning. Also I did not get strong tuna flavor.

The third dish was fluke with sushi rice. I loved Japanese food touch.
The fourth one was pork BBQ. This was Okay. I am not a big fun of pork to begin with it. So I did not care for it.

The fifth one was wagyu steak. The beef was tender. They could have added more seasoning it it. But I still enjoyed the steak.

The last was dessert. Happy birthday was written on my plate. That was nice. I got chocolate pie and chocolate ice cream with banana crepe. My husband got peach pie. The peach pie was kinda sweet for my taste. I could tell that everything was homemade.

The waiter was very nice and friendly. He talked about how they got tuna and flake.
Even he took us to the kitchen when the chief was slicing the fish.
I loved the service.

I would love to come back again. This place definitely made us very special.

Oh Corduroy, Corduroy, how I love thee! This is one of my favorite places for a nice sit-down dinner in the entire DC metro area, including VA and MD. Came here for the first time 3 years ago for my birthday and fell in love. Went back 2 other times since, and it has kept up its perfection even after a few years. Ambiance is more on the quiet side, but definitely not stuffy or pretentious. Waiters are all really nice and laid back. Great service.

Went for dinner tonight, and figured we'd finally try the Chef's Surprise 5-course tasting menu instead of ordering off the menu like we usually do. Let me tell you....best $65 I ever spent!!! We were so full by the end- definitely lots of food. Here's what we got:
- Amuse Bouche: Red snapper bisque made from lobster stock. AMAZING. Not technically part of the 5-courses since it's just a taste- great little treat from the chef!
- Soft Shell Crab: one of my all-time favorite foods in general, and it was made perfectly. Fresh, perfectly seasoned, slightly crunchy.
- Rare Tuna Steak atop sushi rice with black pepper, seaweed, sesame, soy sauce, vinegar. Tuna is so fresh and tender. Goes perfectly with the rice and the sauce. Better than you can even imagine, I promise you.
- Roasted Cornish Hen with cabbage, marinated overnight in star anise. Meat pulled apart easy and the vegetables were perfectly paired.
- Antelope!!!! My first antelope experience, and it was awesome! Not too gamey, which I was expecting. Came with a chestnut puree and bok choy. Also my first chestnut puree experience and it was sooooo yummy!
- Dessert: I got the flourless chocolate cake with bourbon ice cream. Let me say, I am not a chocolate fan.....but I thought I was gonna die when i ate this. It was THE BEST chocolate cake I've ever had- it was like eating dark chocolate truffles....but in a cake! Hubbie got their version of apple pie with ice cream. Also amazing. Not too sweet, not too heavy.

If you haven't been to Corduroy, you need to go. Now. They also offer a $30 3-course menu every night of the week if you sit at the bar.

Kind, friendly, attentive service; delicious food; so-so atmosphere.

The fiance brought me here for my birthday this past Monday, and we had a great time! I immediately noted how kind and sincere our server was - none of the pretension or condescension we receive sometimes as the youngest diners in a $$$ restaurant. He answered our questions about the menu like a champ, and we thoroughly enjoyed the way he avoided using the trite phrase, "How is everything?" Let's see if I can remember what he said: "How are you enjoying the flavors?" And there was also, "Would you like to treat yourself to something delicious?" (for dessert). How could we resist?

For our appetizers, the carpaccio of lobster with drawn butter looked totally weird, but it was delicious. Thin (and raw??) lobster shavings, butter and some other sauces/flavors covered my rectangle plate. A little too goopy for his taste, but I liked it. He got the wild mushroom blintz with garlic sauce, and I was totally jealous! It was like a mushroom egg roll, but in the best way possible. Awesome.

For his entree, he ordered one of the specials that night: the faux rib-eye. "Deliciously marbled," described our server. "We never use the F-word" (fat). And the steak really was beautifully marbled, soft, tender and full of flavor. And Corduroy's medium-rare really is medium-rare.

I ordered the peppered rare tuna on a bed of sushi rice. I figured, why not order the dish that they have displayed on the front page of their website? (check it out: http://www.corduroydc.com) I like how they maintained the Asianness of this dish by using soy sauce and ginger flavoring, but they didn't over-do it at all. The tuna was absolutely fresh and seared perfectly.

The dessert menu said that the baked chocolate sabayon took 15 minutes to prepare, so we decided to go with the one that might be worth the wait. And if you're a chocolate lover, you will LOVE this dessert! It came with a scoop of chocolate ice cream and little sugar cake thingies (dunno how to describe). A great mix of textures, temperatures, everything. YUM.

The decor isn't bad, but just nothing special. I still recommend this restaurant just because the food is so good and the service is so wonderful! Yay, Corduroy! Happy birthday to me!

Some tips:
- Jacket required
- Sometimes valet parking
- It's a historical building, so it's not handicap accessible